Earth-moving and planing machine operable on the sides of hills and mountains

ABSTRACT

The earth-moving and planing machine is intended for construction of terraces and roads on the slopes of hills and mountains and includes a frame supporting a work-performing member connected with a rotary cutter, and a blade assembly. The shaft of the rotary cutter is mounted for adjustable inclination in respect of the shaft of the work-performing member, for which end the shaft are connected by pivot means. The blade is mounted parallel to the axis of rotation of the work-performing member and is of a concave shape. The bottom edge part of the blade is mounted for adjustment of the spacing between the cutting edge and the bed of the terrace being made. The work-performing member is provided with teeth mounted on its shaft, the teeth supporting therebetween a scroll band.

tlnited States Patent [191 Nikitin et al.

[4 1 Oct. 15, 1974 EARTH-MOVING AND PLANING MACHINE OPERABLE ON THE SIDES 0F HILLS AND MOUNTAINS [76] Inventors: Vladislav losifovich Nikitin,

lnstitutskaya ulitsa, 10, kv. l1, Pushino Moskovskoi Oblasti; Nikolai Pavlovich Eltsov, ulitsa Kirova, 37, Moskovskaya Oblast, both of USSR.

[22] Filed: Mar. 5, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 338,222

[52] U.S. Cl 172/49, 172/71, 172/119, 172/782 [51] lnt. Cl. A0lb 33/02, AOlb 35/13 [58] Field of Search 172/73, 35, 49, 48, 51, 172/57, 60, 63, 71, 110, 111, 118-121,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,910,120 5/1933 Mowbray 172/782 X 3,375,878 4/1968 Dorn 172/71 3,399,732 9/1968 Prejan 172/123 X Primary Examiner-Stephen C. Pellegrino Attorney, Agent, or Firml-lolman & Stern [5 7] ABSTRACT The earth-moving and planing machine is intended for construction of terraces and roads on the slopes of hills and mountains and includes a frame supporting a work-performing member connected with a rotary cutter, and a blade assembly. The shaft of the rotary cutter is mounted for adjustable inclination in respect of the shaft of the work-performing member, for which end the shaft are connected by pivot means. The blade is mounted parallel to the axis of rotation of the work-performing member and is of a concave shape. The bottom edge part of the blade is mounted for adjustment of the spacing between the cutting edge and the bed of the terrace being made. The work-performing member is provided with teeth mounted on its shaft, the teeth supporting therebetween a scroll band.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures EARTH-MOVING AND PLANING MACHINE OPERABLEv ON THE SIDES OF HILLS AND MOUNTAINS Background of the Invention The present invention relates generally to an apparatus employed for performing earth-moving operations on the slopes of hills and mountains, and, more particularly, it relates to earth-moving and planing machines operable on the slopes of hills and mountains.

The present invention can be used to utmost advantage at construction of terraces and roads on the slopes of hills and mountains.

Various earth-moving and planing machines employed for construction of terraces and roads on the slopes of hills and mountains are known in the art. Among those which are widely used for this purpose are bulldozers wherein the work-performing member is a blade assembly mounted on a frame which is supported on the chassis of the machine.

There are also widely known machines for construction of terraces, comprising a chassis supporting a frame with a blade assembly I provided with earthloosening teeth. The frame supporting the blade assembly and the earth-loosening teeth is mounted for vertical adjustment relative to the base plane of the chassis. ln order to facilitate the process of earth cutting and moving, the blade assembly is set at a specified angle in relation to the longitudinal axis of the machine, and the earth-losening teeth are pivotally mounted either on the frame itself, or on the blade assembly, so that they effect loosening of the excavation area while the machine is being reversed.

Another kind of earth-moving machines employed for construction of terraces and roads on relatively gentle slopes are graders.

However, all the above-mentioned machines have several serious disadvantages in common, namely, their productivity is relatively low, the quality of the job they perform is not sufficiently high, which latter fact displays itself in the terraces not having required uniform horizontality and the bank of the excavation not being formed at a required angle, which, in the long run, leads to washing away of the excavation bank and of the terraceitself. Furthermore, the above-mentioned machines, when constructing a terrace, practically completely remove the fertile layer off the excavated area. They are incapable of effecting construction of a terrace or of a road on a steep slope in a single pass, which greatly affects the productivity. Their operating is both complicated and labor-consuming, and but a slight mistake on the operators part is liable result in the machine skidding off the terrace and even overturning.

There are also known earth-moving and planing machines operable on the slopes of mountains and hills, having their work-performing member in the form of an endless chain mounted on a frame supported by the chassis of the machine. The chain-type workperforming member is driven from the prime mover mounted on the chassis through a mechanical transmission. The chain is provided with a plurality of teeth for loosening and moving the earth. The chains of the work-performing members of some of these known machines are additionally provided with scrapers for transportation of the excavated earth. However, these machines have relatively low productivity, they cannot be operated in rockridden soil, their manufacture is complicated, and their performance is not reliable enough.

There is further known an earth-moving and planing machine having its work-performing member in the form of two rotary cutters of which the shafts are perpendicular to each other, the cutter with the horizontally extending shaft being intended to loosen the soil, while the conical cutter with the vertically extending shaft is mounted on the side of the excavation bank and is intended to effect formation of this bank. Mounted immediately behind the cutters, at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the machine, is the blade assembly. The two cutters and the blade assembly are mounted on a support frame which, in its turn, is supported by the chassis. In operation the cutter mounted on the horizontal shaft loosens the soil, while the conical cutter cuts the soil on the side adjoining the excavation bank and forms this bank. The cutters are driven from the prime mover of the chassis through a mechanical transmission.

A disadvantage of this machine arises from the cutters being incapable of conveying the excavated earth sidewise, whereby the loosened earth is liable to accumulate between the cutter on the horizontal shaft and the blade. This involves the necessity of stopping periodically the machine and removing. the soil manually off the work-performing member. Moreover, with the blade being mounted at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the machine, the length of the machine must be increased, the longitudinal stability of the machine is affected, and, consequently, the maneuverability of the machine, when it is operated for construction of a terrace along curved portions of a slope, is considerably reduced. As a result of the above disadvantages, the machine of the last-described kind has relatively low productivity and a limited field of applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an earth-moving and planing machine operable on the slopes of hills and mountains, which will provide for stepping up the productivity and for improving the quality of the job performed by the machine.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an earth-moving and planing machine which will offer high reliability of operation.

These and other objects are accomplished in an earth moving and planing machine operable on the slopes of hills and mountains, comprising a frame supporting a work-performing member, a blade assembly with an edge part and a rotary cutter mounted on the side adjoining the bank of the excavation, in which machine, in accordance with the present invention, the shaft of the rotary cutter is pivotably connected with the shaft of the work-performing member, the blade being mounted parallel to the axis of rotation of the workperforming member, the edge part of said bladebeing adjustably mounted for adjustment of the height of the edge part.

It is expedient that the shaft of the cutter be connected to the shaft of the work-performing member through means effecting transmission of the rotation at an angular speed equal to that of the shaft of the workof inclination of the cutter relative to the workperforming member, which, in its turn, allows for varying the angle of the excavation bank in correspondence with the physical and mechanical properties of the soil.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the machine has a concave blade, its concave side facing the work-performing member.

The above-described structure of the blade assembly and the arrangement thereof in relation to the workperforming member ensure dependable transportation of the excavated soil, as well as planing of the bed of the terrace with provisions for adjustment of the thickness of the loosened layer.

It is further expedient that the rotary cutter include a plurality of radial teeth mounted on the driven shaft, the teeth carrying cutting blades on the extremities thereof. A cutter of this structure ensures dependable operation in soils of various mechanical strength with minimal effort, since the structure enables to cut the soil without excessive disintegration of the latter.

The herein disclosed earth-moving and planing machines operable on the slopes of hills and mountains provides for construction of terraces and roads in mountainous areas with high productivity and sufficiently high quality of the job being performed.

In operation, the herein disclosed machine effects construction of a terrace in a single pass, with simultaneous formation of the excavation bank. Furthermore, a machine according to the present invention retains fertile soil in the loosened layer of which the thickness is adjustable. The structure of the work-performing member and that of the rotary cutter provide for reliability of the performance of the machine. Moreover, the machine facilitates the task of the operator and of fers safer labor conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, with reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an earth-moving and planing machine operable on the slopes of hills and mountains, constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is the plan view of the machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is the front view of the machine shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is the sectional view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in particular to the appended drawings, the earth-moving and planing machine operable on the slopes of hills and mountains comprises a selfpropelled chassis l supporting an articulated frame 2 having mounted thereon a work-performing member 3. The work-performing member 3 includes a shaft 4 carrying a plurality of spaced teeth 5. The teeth 5 support therebetween a scroll band 6 constituting a screw conveyor for moving the soil sidewise. On the side adjoining the bank being formed, the work-performing memher 3 is provided with a rotary cutter 7 the shaft 8 of which is pivotally connected with the shaft 4 of the work-performing member 3, so that the shaft 8 can be set at a desired inclination angle relative to the shaft 4. The cutter 7 includes a plurality of radial teeth 9 mounted on the driven shaft 8, the teeth 9 having cutting blades secured to their extremities. Behind the work-performing member 3 and parallel thereto, there is positioned a blade assembly 10 with a bottom edge part 11 which is vertically adjustable, to vary the spacing between this cutting edge 11 and the bed of the terrace. The blade 10 is concave, its concave side facing the work-performing member 3.

The work-performing member 3 and the blade 10 can be raised into a transportation position and lowered into a working positioned with the help of a hydraulic cylinder 12, while another hydraulic cylinder 13 is operable for angular adjustment of the workperforming member 3 and of the blade 10 in a transverse vertical plane. The work-performing member 3 and the rotary cutter 7 are driven from the prime mover of the chassis 1 through a mechanical transmission 14.

The herein disclosed machine operates, as follows.

The machine is positioned across the slope of a mountain or a hill. The hydraulic cylinder 12 is operated to lower the work-performing member 3 with the rotary cutter 7 and the blade 10 until they engage the ground. Then the transmission 14 is engaged to rotate the work-performing member 3. When the shaft 4 of the work-performing member 3 is rotated, it transmits rotation to the shaft 8 of the rotary cutter 7. For the work-performing member 3 and the cutter 7 to cut into the ground, the cylinder 13 is operated to rotate the frame 2 into a horizontal position, and thus the rotary cutter 7 and the work-performing member begin cutting the ground to form the bed of a terrace. With the machine, as a whole, moving forward, the workperforming member 3 loosens the soil with its teeth 5, and the scroll band 6'carries the soil sidewise, toward that side of the terrace, which is being filled. The shaft 8 of the cutter 7 being inclined in relation to the shaft 4 of the work-performing member 3, the rotating cutter 7 cuts the soil at a desired angle relative to a horizontal plane, thus forming the bank of the excavation. The bottom edge 11 of the blade 10, which is set at a desired height over the bed of the terrace, cuts away any irregularities of the bed, that are left, and pushes the soil it cuts toward the scroll band 6.

When it is required to increase the thickness of the loosened layer that is to be left on the bed of the terrace, the bottom edge 11 is adjusted on the blade 10 to increase the spacing between the edge and the terrace bed. When a road is being constructed, and there is no necessity to leave a layer of loosened soil on the bed, the edge 11 is set into its bottommost position.

After the construction of a terrace or a bed has been completed, the cylinder 12 is operated to raise the work-performing member 3 and the blade 10 into a transportation position.

What we claim is:

1. An earth moving and planing machine for working on mountain slopes and the like to form a terrace thereon defining an upwardly inclined bank, a downwardly inclined bank and a substantially level surface therebetween, said machine comprising:

a chassis provided with motive power means;

frame means cantilevered for movement at the front part of said chassis;

transmission means mounted on said frame means and coupled to said motive power means for driving said work-performing means;

a second shaft pivotally coupled to the other end of said first shaft for rotatable and inclinable movement therewith and thereto respectively and having a plurality of cutters for shaping the upwardly inclined bank of the terrace to a predetermined inclination relative to the level surface thereof;

a blade assembly rigidly mounted parallel to said first shaft on said frame means rearwardly of said workperforming means relative to the forward operating movements of said machine when forming the terrace, said blade assembly having a cutting edge having means for adjustably mounting the same on said blade assembly for varying the thickness of ground loosened by said work-performing means and remaining on the level surface of the terrace formed thereby.

2. An earth-moving and planing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second shaft is connected to said first shaft through pivot joint means for effecting transmission of rotation to said second shaft at a speed which is equal to the angular speed of said first shaft 3. An earth-moving and planing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blade assembly is of concave shape the concave side thereof facing said workperforming means.

4. An earth-moving and planing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of cutters of said second shaft carry cutting blades on the respective extremities thereof. 

1. An earth moving and planing machine for working on mountain slopes and the like to form a terrace thereon defining an upwardly inclined bank, a downwardly inclined bank and a substantially level surface therebetween, said machine comprising: a chassis provided with motive power means; frame means cantilevered for movement at the front part of said chassis; work-performing means mounted on said chassis having a rotatable first shaft with a plurality of cutting teeth disposed therealong for loosening ground to shape the level surface of the terrace, and a screw conveyor means arranged between said cutting teeth for conveying the loosened ground in a longitudinal direction of said first shaft to one end thereof, to form the downwardly inclined bank of the terrace, said teeth extending beyond the outermost working edge of said screw conveyor means; transmission means mounted on said frame means and coupled to said motive power means for driving said work-performing means; a second shaft pivotally coupled to the other end of said first shaft for rotatable and inclinable movement therewith and thereto respectively and having a plurality of cutters for shaping the upwardly inclined bank of the terrace to a predetermined inclination relative to the level surface thereof; a blade assembly rigidly mounted parallel to said first shaft on said frame means rearwardly of said work-performing means relative to the forward operating movements of said machine when forming the terrace, said blade assembly having a cutting edge having means for adjustably mounting the same on said blade assembly for varying the thickness of ground loosened by said work-performing means and remaining on the level surface of the terrace formed thereby.
 2. An earth-moving and planing machine As claimed in claim 1, wherein said second shaft is connected to said first shaft through pivot joint means for effecting transmission of rotation to said second shaft at a speed which is equal to the angular speed of said first shaft
 3. An earth-moving and planing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blade assembly is of concave shape the concave side thereof facing said work-performing means.
 4. An earth-moving and planing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of cutters of said second shaft carry cutting blades on the respective extremities thereof. 